Stopping Breed Stereotypes

If you’re on Facebook, most likely you either love or hate the popular game, Mafia Wars. I happen to fall on the dislike side, but I can tell from my Facebook News Feed that many of my friends play the game quite frequently! And they’re not alone--over 7 million people play Mafia Wars every day.

Recently, the game announced the addition of animals as a new type of weapon, which included Pit Bulls. This was obviously disturbing to anyone fighting against Pit Bull stereotypes. It was also surprising coming from Mafia Wars creator, Zynga, who also created YoVille, a game where virtual adoptions of dogs and cats have raised over $125,000 for the San Francisco SPCA. Zynga even allows employees to bring their pets to work, many who have rescue Pit Bulls.

Personally I don’t see the appeal of Mafia Wars, but I commend Zynga for being responsive to feedback and for ultimately pulling Pit Bulls from the game. The depiction of the breed in the game was downright offensive. Given that only a small fraction of the millions of Mafia Wars users complained, I think Zynga demonstrated sensitivity once the issue was brought to their attention.

And the next time you pass on signing a petition, assuming it won’t make a difference, think twice about the power of your signature!